Reoccurences
by Bluewolfgirl
Summary: Haruko returns to Earth after twenty years of chasing Atomsk. But it's not Naota she finds...
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is my first FLCL fanfic and I hope it's okay…I've already written most of the story but I wrote it on paper, so actually transferring it onto the computer takes awhile so…yeah. It might vary considering vacations, holidays ect. Also CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcome. Flames are just useless. Now, with my rambling done, onto the story! 

**Disclaimer**: Why do we need these anyway? I'm going to make my own manga, have it become vastly popular, and write about it on THEN I won't need these stupid disclaimers... Though I suppose whatever I write on fanfiction could just as easily happen in my manga...

* * *

His name was Ato Okurah. Or at least that's what everyone called him. His full name was Atoan, but that was too weird a name for his boring little town, so everyone just called him Ato. It wasn't any less weird, but it was better than Atoan. He was a fifteen-year-old guitar player who had dreams of pink hair and cat eyes. He often wondered about the strange dreams he had. For all of five seconds. Then he wrote them off as something from TV.

As he walked down the stairs, blue guitar in hand, he glanced at his mother who was lying on the couch, her brown eyes fixed on the ceiling. One small hand stroked the head of their old black cat Ta-kun, the other holding a cigarette with some small writing on the paper that he couldn't make out. Walking through the door, throwing a casual

"See ya later Mom."

Over his shoulder, he left the small house he and his mother lived in.

Running one hand through his short black hair with a sigh, brilliant blue eyes slid over the street they lived on, lingering on an old abandoned house with a sign peeking through one cracked window. If he squinted he could make out the words 'Day Old Bread For Sale'.

His mom had told his some kid named Nato or something used to live there, along with a creepy housekeeper and a robot. He'd ignored her, thinking it was one of her odd ramblings he never understood. Like when she talked about video games. It was weird for an adult of her age to still play video games, though he had to admit, Firestarter was pretty addicting.

Turning away from the house he began to walk down the street, resting the blue guitar on is shoulder as he walked. He carried the thing everywhere with him, though not many people got to actually see him play it. It was just something he did. No one ever asked him about it, and he probably wouldn't tell them if they did.

As he walked he turned his thoughts once again to the strange dreams he'd been having. He didn't want to have to see a shrink or something but at this rate he might have to. This was the tenth time this month, and all that he kept seeing were pink locks, flashes of eyes that looked so much like a cats, and a blinding pain in his skull…What kind of person had pink hair and cat eyes anyway? It was no wonder he was getting headaches from those neon bright colors.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of a motor and someone yelling. He guessed at him since there was no one else on the bridge.

"HEY! Naota!"

He spun around quickly, eyes widening at the person riding at full speed towards his on a yellow Vespa.

"W-wha?"

The bike slammed into him, sending him flying up into the air. He landed on the pavement with a pained moan, convinced that every bone in his body was broken.

"Ugh..."

One eye slowly opened, the blue orb focusing on the person leaning over him, his other eye remaining firmly closed. The person grinned widely, something a bit odd for someone who had just run a kid over. Most of their face concealed beneath a helmet and goggles, a scarf wrapped tightly around their neck. The person wore a thick leather jacket and brown jeans along with tacky cowboy boots. Vaguely he recognized the strap on their shoulder, that was a guitar strap, or at the very least some type of strap for a musical instrument, though he couldn't be **completely **sure with the way his head was spinning.

"Heya Ta-kun!"

He blinked once, and then again, his other eye opening to stare at this obviously crazy person in front of him.

"Huh?"

The person frowned for a second, quite obviously expecting something different.

"You don't remember me Ta-kun?"

There it was again! She, for he realized now this person was a girl, if her voice was any indication, kept calling him by the same name as his cat. He was NOT a cat!

Suddenly the freaky girl seemed to realize something and tore off her helmet, goggles and scarf, a smirk forming on her face.

"Bet you remember me now, eh Naota?"

Meanwhile, Ato had sat bolt upright, almost whacking heads with the strange woman, and was currently edging away, mumbling something to the extent of,

"Y-you're the woman of my dreams…."

The girl grinned and turned away slightly, her mouth curving upwards like a cats until Ato was sure whiskers would appear on her cheeks. Which is why he blinked when painted whiskers really DID appear on her cheeks. From out of nowhere.

"That's so cute Naota! But I'm just little old Haruko…"

She snickered, and Ato just stared. Sure, everyone in Mabase was a little...odd. But this girl took the cake in the couple moments of being around her!

Sighing, he stored her name away for future use, though he sincerely hoped he'd never see this weird girl again.

"My name's not Naota or Ta-kun. It's Ato Okurah! And for your information, I don't even know you lady."

The girl, Haruko, froze at his words, the grin slipping a little from her face as she finally took a good LONG look at the boy in front of her. It had been awhile since she had left in search of Atomsk, probably ranging in years on this planet, and the kid looked only a couple years older than Naota. Logically, it didn't add up. Not that she was ever one for the logic.

But the mess of short black hair, and the brilliant blue eyes were the same as Naota's. That irritated, vaguely confused look on his face was also similar. This boy, Ato something-or-other, looked just like an older Naota would probably look like.

Ato himself was getting slightly nervous with how intently Haruko was studying him, and averted his gaze.

Finishing her inspection of the boy who looked like Naota, she saw him look away and, with an evil smile she raised her double guitar, wondering if his head was like Naota's too.

The poor boy had just enough time to look up and yell before the two, connected, bright red guitars slammed into his head with all the force of a two ton bull.


	2. Enter, Canti!

The title MAY be a tad misleading…Canti does return but the chapter is by no means about him. It is only about our hero Tao-kun! Er…Ato. Also, as an added note, I'm trying to make Ato as Naota-ish as possible. Really, Ato is supposed to be how an older Naota would act, with only slight differences because of how Mamimi would raise her only son. I think I hit it pretty much on the target but…if you sense any OOCness then tell me okay? Oh yeah! And, on paper anyway, I now have fifty pages of this lovely little story! Which'll probably be only 25 on the comp…but its still far more pages than I've ever written before!

Disclaimer: …..I think this is self-explanitory.

**fooly** **coolly**: thanks! I'm trying to update as often as possible! Even though I'm a couple days late of a weekly update at this point…

**Chi: **The BEST? Wow…I couldn't imagine my little ol' story being THE best story…though thanks for saying so!

**Genoscythe**: I was a bit worried that the story was a bit too…serious for FLCL. I'm absolutely terrible at humor…

**Chapter** **Two**: **Enter**, **Canti**!

"Hold still Tao-kun!"

He winced as his mother applied even more of the alcohol swabs to his forehead, where a large red bump stood. Irritated, he caught her gaze, brilliant blue eyes staring stubbornly into her brown ones. After barely a moment though she looked away hurriedly, putting far more concentration than necessary onto his forehead.

He hated it when she did that, not looking him in the eye…ever. Well, that and always calling him "Tao-kun". He had disliked it because it sounded too much like their cats name, and the first time she'd called him that, which incidentally was after he'd cut his hair to its present length, an unexplainable anger boiled in his chest.

Looking to the side he frowned as his gaze landed on HER. Haruko, she'd said her name was, though he had no idea why she was still here. She should be arrested or something! Interestingly enough, she and his mother had begun arguing over something a few moments after Haruko had disinterestedly deposited his half conscious form on the couch.

Despite all appearances, he wasn't dead or unconscious, just trying to deal with a REALLY bad headache. Therefore, he didn't pay too much attention to what they were talking about, though he'd guessed it was about the cat when he had heard Ta-kun mentioned. When Mom had pointed at him though, he had begun to get suspicious.

He'd heard the word "Naota" mentioned repeatedly, but when they had realized he wasn't as knocked out as they'd thought he was, they quickly shut up.

Now, Haruko was sitting across from him, strumming a few chords on her double guitar. She grinned widely when she caught him looking at her, and he just frowned and looked away. He didn't like the way his heart fluttered weirdly in his chest, like a butterfly or a bird or something, when he met that cat-eyed gaze. He also didn't like the way Mom had twitched when Haruko had stepped through the doorway, waving and saying,

"Hey Mamimi! You haven't changed much!"

It was then Mom had twitched again, muttering way too loudly,

"And you haven't changed at ALL Haruko…now what did you do to Tao-kun?"

Actually, come to think of it, there were a lot of things he didn't like. School, this town, the cat, nicknames, his full name, Haruko…his heart fluttered again at her name and he mentally squashed the annoying thing and stood abruptly, much to the protests of his mother. Grabbing a nearby hat and yanking it down over his head to cover the bump,

"I'm going out."

Was all he offered as an explanation as he walked to the door, glaring at Haruko over his shoulder before he left and slamming the door closed for good measure.

He slipped the quarter into the machine, pressing one of the buttons and grabbing the drink as the vending machine made weird chugging and whining noises. Popping the top he began drinking it thirstily, heedless to anything and everything around him.

"You look upset about something Ato."

He almost choked on his drink from surprise, spinning around to face the owner of that monotonous voice.

The girl standing behind him was dressed in the a girls school uniform, even though it was Saturday, a somewhat bored look on her face as she tugged impatiently on a thick braid of purple hair.

"N-Nina…"

The girl in question quirked an eyebrow but said nothing, obviously waiting for an answer.

"You weren't at school the other day either Ato."

She was doing it again, he noted. Just when he was about to tell her something she'd interrupt before the words even left his mouth.

"I got hit by a Vespa girl…"

He shrugged; ignoring the amazed look she gave him.

"You got hit by a wasp girl?"

He shook his head quickly at her reply, realizing vaguely how ridiculous that had sounded.

"No! I got hit by some crazy girl riding a Vespa bike!"

Almost immediately the bored look slid off her face, replaced with worry, something he was positive she NEVER showed in front of anyone at school. That was Nina for you.

"Are you okay? Shouldn't you be in the hospital? Who was the girl that did it?"

He sighed at the flurry of questions and now remembered WHY his thoughts were not to tell Nina…at this rate that 'Haruko' woman would probably be locked up. Dismissing the thought quickly, another sigh escaped his lips.

"Well…"

"I did it! Ta-kun had a fly on his head, so I hit it for him!"

Ato jumped as Haruko suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind Nina, grinning from ear to ear. Nina just blinked…and stared.

"She hit your cat too?"

Ato sighed yet again, his left eye twitching slightly. Things were beginning to get slightly chaotic, and slightly chaotic for this town was just plain crazy. Nothing amazing happened here. Ever. There was supposedly a bomb explosion or something twenty years back but after that the most amazing thing to occur here was a new library opening.

Snapping out of his thoughts he blinked as the two girls stared at him, Haruko was still grinning, and Nina was glancing between him and Haruko, a somewhat disturbed expression on her face. Smiling nervously he jammed his hands into his pockets and turned to the side, purposely keeping his gaze as far away from Haruko and Nina as humanly possible while still trying to look cool.

"Nah. She just keeps calling me that for some reason. The cat's fine."

Nina nodded and slowly began edging away from the still grinning Haruko.

"Well, I've gotta get to school…"

She smiled nervously, the smile disappearing at Haruko's next words.

"It's Saturday though."

Ato could almost HEAR Nina cursing mentally, and stifled a snicker behind his hand as she thought up a different excuse almost immediately.

"Well I've got to do homework!"

As she ran off he heard her yell goodbye over her shoulder and then disappeared off the bridge, leaving him alone. With Haruko. With no one else in sight. He didn't even have to look at her to see the evil grin that painted itself on her face.

"So…is that your girlfriend?"

His face turned at least a dozen shades of red at Haruko's question, already picturing her sly grin. It was weird how he knew exactly what she was gonna do, before she did it…he knew her too well and he didn't even like the freaky girl!

"N-no way! She just hangs around and bugs me about stuff…"

He tugged the hat further down over his face to hide the blush. Haruko shrugged, turned and walked only two steps before pausing.

"By the way Ato…You probably don't know him but you're a lot like Naota Maybe you'll turn out differently than he did."

A chill traveled down his spine at those words, and the moment he blinked she had jumped onto her Vespa and ridden off into the sunset. He would've appreciated the romantic scene more if he hadn't been so confused, and slightly creeped out.

Blinking after the strange woman he turned…and slammed right into a wall, that he swore hadn't been there before. Or at least he thought it was a wall. When he stumbled back, clutching a bloody nose and glaring up at the 'wall', he saw a pair of metal…feet? He eyes slowly traveled upward, catching sight of metallic arms and he guessed legs, beneath the green jacket and jeans it wore. How it ever fit into a pair of jeans, he would never know.

Slowly, he realized the wall he had slammed into was some type of metal robot…thing. The TV screen face looked down at him, a tiny print flashing across its screen too fast for him to comprehend. Taking one last look at the robot he turned tail and RAN…or at least he would've, had the robot not grabbed him by the back of his shirt and lifted him three feet off the ground.

"Put me down you big, stupid, metal robot…thing!"

His arms and legs flailed wildly, trying to connect with something, but the robot held him at arms length and began walking, its metal feet thudding against the pavement dully.

"Lord Canti!"

Ato blinked as his mother leaped off the couch, running to the robot and throwing her arms around its neck in an ecstatic hug. While affectionately patting her on the head with one hand, he let go of the back of Ato's shirt with the other, leaving him to land shakily on his feet. Glancing over his shoulder at his Mom who was poking Canti repeatedly, as if to make sure he was really real, he smiled and climbed the stairs to his room.

As Ato opened the door to his room he was bombarded with possibly one of the weirdest sights he had ever seen. Haruko was dressed in a nurses uniform, HIS blue guitar slung over her shoulder, and she was talking to Ta-kun, shaking the poor cat every few moments.

"I couldn't find Naota but I found another kid who looks like him. He's pretty useless though and his mom is the girl Naota was hanging around…I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or not. I'll have to study him a bit more before I try to find a different person though…Raharu, out!"

With that, she threw the poor, dizzy little cat on his bed, muttered something about a bad connection, and turned around.

"OH! Ta-kun! How long have you been standing there?"

Instead of answering her question, he cast a sympathetic glance towards Ta-kun the cat, and made his way to the bed, countering with a question of his own.

"Why do you keep calling me that anyway? Ta-kun is my cat, which I'm sure you know by now. My…nickname…is Tao-kun."

He turned quickly, leaning backwards so he fell back on his bed. Haruko frowned, looking at him sadly, though he couldn't see it because his gaze was firmly locked on the ceiling.

"Because…that's what Mamimi always used to call Naota…good thing it wasn't Taro kun. And it fits you!"

He glared at the ceiling, blue eye burning a hole through the white plaster and paint.

"Well I'm not Naota. I'm Ato! If you have to keep not calling me by my real name, at least call me Tao-kun. I really don't want people to think I'm a cat…understand Haruko?"

A smirk wormed its way onto her face at his words.

"You called me Haruko! So far, you've only called me 'That crazy lady on the Vespa! Heh heh heh…"

Ato froze, realizing his mistake FAR too late and scrambled to correct it and save face.

"That doesn't make any difference at all! It's just annoying to keep calling you 'that lady'. I mean it's not like I LIKE you or nothin'…it's just more polite and all…if you call me by my name I should call you by yours and…uh…"

He stopped abruptly, realizing he was beginning to chatter on aimlessly. Haruko just grinned, switching Ato's guitar for her doubled red one. Ato, being curious about the thing for a while now, decided now was as good a time as any to ask.

"How did that guitar get that way? It's weird looking."

Haruko paused at Ato's question, a somewhat thoughtful look crossing her features.

"It was made that way…by an old friend. It carries a lot of old memories."

She shrugged off the almost overwhelming feeling of nostalgia that washed over her and, in one leap, bounded across the room to Ato's bed, leaning over him with a grin.

"By the way…me and Canti will be staying here awhile. I presume you two already met?"

At Ato's surprised face she stuck her tongue out at him, resisting the urge to cackle like a maniac.

"Too bad for you huh? Guess that's the way life goes."

With a smirk she disappeared through the door, cackling like a maniac down the stairs, her laugh lingering even after she was gone and leaving Ato to wonder just WHO he had gotten himself mixed up with.

**End** **Chapter**


	3. What a Headache

I have found out the problem to my weekly updating schedule…The chapters are twelve pages long on paper and my handwriting is horrible! So I have to type up twelve pages of story while deciphering my own handwriting…I mean I DO have a life…sort of…kinda…in a way…Anyways! As long as I get the amount of reviews each week as I'm currently getting, I'm going to acknowledge everyone's review! Just because I can and they don't take up THAT much room! Though I dream of the day when writing replies to my reviewers will take up like five pages on the computer…

**fooly** **cooly: **Everyone is so nice…calling my chapters perfect; calling my story the best…you're all great!

**Jazze Al-Bhed-Girl: **Great! The more readers the more fame and fortune for me! …oh wait…this doesn't get me any fortune…I might get fame though!

**CerdicOfWessex: **Thanks! This is the fourth time they're showing the FLCL series but it never gets old!

Disclaimer: Once upon a time there was a girl who wished she owned FLCL. Too bad she was just one of millions of others of girls who wanted it too. Short version: I don't own!

XxX 

The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and there was no school today because it was the weekend! All of these were very good reasons for WHY Ato was annoyed at being woken up at eight in the morning by a loud motor being revved up repeatedly outside his window. Leaning halfway out of his bedroom window, his eye twitched slightly at the pink haired, hunched over form tinkering with the yellow Vespa.

"Haruko…Haruko? Hey! Haruko!"

Receiving no response whatsoever he grabbed a baseball cap, threw on some more appropriate clothes than the white shirt and shorts he was wearing, and vaulted out the window, grabbing onto the drain pipe so he would fall and break his neck. Dropping firmly on his feet he glanced at the Vespa, noting Haruko hadn't even noticed him leaping out a window.

"Crazy alien lady…"

"Yesss?"

Was the sickeningly sweet reply to his muttered words that seemed to flow naturally from his mouth.

Was she…?

Could she actually be…?

Was Haruko…really…

His train of thoughts were shoved aside as he focused more on the anger at being woken up so early.

"WHY are you messing with that stupid bike so early! People are trying to sleep you know!"

Haruko shrugged halfheartedly and turned back to the Vespa, absentmindedly throwing an abnormal part from the bike over her shoulder at him that he barely dodged.

"Not my fault people sleep too much…"

Unable to find a suitable response to that, Ato settled for glaring and walking off down the street towards his favorite hangout. The bridge was where he was heading but he paused at the rundown house his mother always avoided like the plague. He'd always wanted to go in there…and what was stopping him anyway? Mom was asleep and Haruko was being weird…as usual. Casting a cautious glance over his shoulder he pulled open the old door and walked inside.

XxX 

Ato stepped carefully over boxes of old magazines and packages of bread far past the expiration dates. He glanced at an old, broken t.v. in what appeared to be the living room and suspiciously eyes a pack of Little Prince Curry Brand sitting on a table in the dining room. Mom never made curry much but he knew that he probably wouldn't like it. He just didn't like spicy stuff. Squeezing past the half open door he began up the stairs, his heart thundering in his chest as he climbed. There, was something up there, he knew it.

Pushing open the door, his eyes swept over a desk, a bunk bed in the corner of the room, a magazine pinned to the wall…and settled on an empty space in one corner of the room. Frowning at the weird feeling of disappointment he took his blue guitar from his back and placed it in the empty space, leaning back and studying it for a moment. For some reason, he felt like it belonged there, it just…fit. Picking it back up his eyes once again strayed to the magazine on the wall. Creeping closer he saw it was opened to a picture of a shadowy figure holding what looked vaguely like a guitar. There were other pictures tacked to the wall as well though. Most of them were of weird looking guitars, like Haruko's, or high tech machinery he didn't recognize.

But the others…he blinked, rubbing his eyes and leaning closer. Two MISSING posters, one of that robot thing, Canti was what Mom had called it? And the other…looked exactly like Haruko. Staring blankly at the girl looking, annoyed, at the picture taker his eyes wandered to the Last Seen date. If possibly, he was even more blown away, and was somewhat surprised he hadn't had a heart attack or something by now. The date was from over twenty years ago…that couldn't be Haruko…shaking his head fiercely he paid more attention to the other pictures. Younger Mom, younger mom, a hat…? And the teenage version of, his mother giving the peace sign to the camera, her arm slung around the shoulders of a kid with brilliant blue eyes and a mess of black hair.

The kid looked exactly like him. If it weren't for Mom in it, he would've thought it was one of his old pictures. Questions raced through his mind like a tornado, emotions bubbling to the surface only to be replaced by new ones before they could be identified. Vaguely, he felt something like a thousand pins being stuck into his head but the pain was somewhat by the emotions surging through his blood. With one hand clasping his forehead, the other gripping the guitar with such intensity that his knuckles were white, he staggered down the stairs and out of the house, only to come face to face with the mysterious Vespa lady, Haruko herself.

"What were you doing in there Tao-kun? Going into abandoned houses is dangerous you know. Especially THAT house."

If Ato had been paying more attention he would have seen the almost longing look Haruko gave the poor house. But no. HE was too busy dealing with a headache, his chaotic emotions, and his almost heart attack from Haruko leaping out of nowhere to pay too much attention to the girl in front of him.

"You're not my mom…and I AM fifteen!"

Yeah, that was his excuse for going into an old abandoned house. Obviously, he knew the excuse was just as bad because he kept his gaze firmly on the ground. Haruko, on the other hand, noticed exactly how Ato was obviously not trying to look at her. She had better noticing skills than a fifteen year old.

"What did you see in there Tao-kun?"

Her tone was light, carefree as always but at his lack of response a low, dangerous growl rumbled in the back of her throat. He'd seen something…and she had to find out what it was or else it might ruin her entire operation.

"Tao-kun…"

Losing patience with the boy, her hand lashed out, knocking away the cap he wore and clasping onto his shoulder in a vice-like grip, her nails tearing into the skin below the shirt he wore.

"**TELL ME NAOTA!**"

Something inside the poor kid began to snap at that point, like a sharp knife continually wearing away at a thin string, and it had almost cut through. He jerked out of Haruko's grasp, giving the crazed woman one last terrified look, blue eyes gleaming with pure primal fear, he ran, shoes thudding quickly against the pavement as he went to the only place he could think of where he would be safe.

XxX 

He sat beneath the bridge, the cool grass brushing dewdrops against his jeans as he shivered. Partly from the fear of Haruko, partly because even now his vision swam before his eyes, a spark of almost madness locked within the blue depths. His guitar lay by his side, a pen held between his fingers as he drew something on the back of an old ad that had been taped to one of the bridge supports. Leaning back, he studied his work with a lopsided smile, fingers brushing lightly against the ink.

A complicated symbol lay on the paper, images of a flaming red energy and a girl who he thought had loved him accompanying the figure. Ato didn't really try to make sense of what was happening to him, he just knew that when the pins began to feel white-hot and a burning sensation spread throughout his head, odd memories of a life that was no quite his began to surface from the murky depths of his brain. An almost unicorn-like horn sprouted from his head, pushing even farther outwards with each stream of memories that swept through his mind.

"A…Ato?"

He sun around at the stuttering voice, blinking at the girl with long, loose purple hair.

"Nina..."

The sound of his own voice, almost cracking with that one word, snapped him out of the crazed mind he was in. Remembering suddenly that there was a giant horn on his head he groped about blindly for something to cover it with, but his searching fingers found only the handle of his guitar.

Nina took a closer look at the boy who looked like Ato, and sounded like Ato, but when she looked into his eyes, she realized easily. This boy was NOT Ato. Her accusations sprung from her lips quickly, gaining strength as she continued until she was yelling by the end.

"You're not…You're not him…who…what are you? What have you done with Ato? Where is Ato?"

And then…it was gone. The string had disappeared, shredded to bits, and the horn on his head pushed forwards and began to take color and a definite shape as it emerged from Ato's head. First, the horn grew and curved, turning brown with a thick metal tip at the end. Quickly, the rest of the body began to emerge. Six legs, a long thin body, and finally a square head with four piercing red eyes and a large mouth that clicked with dozens of rows of dagger sharp teeth.

XxX 

A few miles away a certain pink haired girl with cat eyes was roaming Naota's home when her metal bracelet piece began to tremble and then clatter violently against her wristband. Haruko dropped the pictures of the machinery she knew all too well and, vaulting out the window with a sharp whistle, landed squarely on the seat of her Vespa.

"It's time…"

Grinning from ear to ear she revved up the engine and began speeding towards the bridge, where a thick cloud of sickly green smoke was coming from.

Meanwhile, within that cloud of sickly green smoke, Ato, poor kid, was running for his life from a robotic scorpion type…thing. Pulling Nina along as well, because he realized if he let her go, she would probably be crushed in three seconds flat. Every so often he would swipe at the thing with his guitar, having already knocked out one of its blood red eyes and completely smashed through it tail, though not before he had gotten an ugly gash on his arm that was now dripping a black liquid that he suspected was poison.

Following his instincts, he leaped to the side suddenly, pulling Nina as well just as a huge leg smashed into the spot they just were. Gulping and clutching his wound with one hand, he struck the scorpion with the guitar in his other hand, sighing in momentary relief as it struck on of the legs, crashing through the metal and, amazingly, not breaking the guitar either.

The metal scorpion, in revenge, swiped what was left of its tail at Ato. Blue eyes widened at the thick rod of metal flying towards him and Ato was still regaining his balance from the hit he had just delivered. Pulling Nina behind him he closed his eyes tightly, bracing himself for the bone crushing blow he knew was coming...Any second now. It really was going to come…really.

Opening one eye hesitantly, both eyes snapped open at the sight before him.

"H-Haruko?"

For there she stood, mere inches in front of him, double guitar held in both hands as she was locked in a stalemate with the metallic scorpion. She glanced over her shoulder at him…and grinned.

"What's up Ato?"

She turned back to the scorpion as it pushed forwards and Ato, having a sudden flash of memory, ran forwards and, squeezing his eyes tightly shut and praying that this would work, swung with all his remaining strength at the scorpions face. The blue guitar slammed into the scorpions head, crushing the three remaining crimson red eyes that were left and crunching through the scorpions metal head, crushing the metal and finally sending the thing spiraling into the air and landing with a titanic splash in the river, sending a tidal wave of water splashing over the river banks.

Haruko had stumbled backwards from the sudden lack of pressure from the scorpion, a breathless 'wow…' escaping from her throat. She knew she shouldn't have said it the moment it slipped out though because, at that moment, she realized that this was not Naota, and she would never be able to do the same thing to him that she had done to the kid. Never.

Ato stood motionless with his back to the two girls, the black liquid running down his arm and dripping on the ground. The small puddle of the stuff lay motionless on the ground, any and all plant life beginning to wilt near it. As if sensing their gaze, Ato turned, smiling at them.

"Did you see that? I just destroyed it…I just did something that he could never do by himself…heh…"

It was then that he collapsed to the ground, blue eyes sliding closed and his guitar, completely unmarked from the fight, fell to the ground with him.

Annnnnnd that's a wrap! Or whatever the directors say. I'm REAL sorry about taking so long to put this up, I kinda lost interest with it for awhile but I'm back in business and I'll do whatever it takes to keep this story running. I promise! Now….Review please!


	4. Memories

Okay…honestly I'm very, truly, horribly sorry that you all had to wait so long to read this! Ironically, I found my book not too long after posting the A/N…heh heh heh. Well, without further ado, I present the next chapter!   
Katearah: Okay. This, hands down, has to be one of the best reviews I have ever gotten. You're the first person who's remarked on the name too! I'm glad you like the story and thank you SO much for the truly awesome review! 

Disclaimer: …In the immortal words of Inuyasha… "Feh."

"You're the one that came first Ta-kun…"

"A real batter imagines an arc shooting from his heart. There ! That star will make a good target!

It's kinda flickery though…see?"

"My name is Naota! Don't call me Ta-kun anymore!"

"You want to come with me?

You mean it? Why are you being so nice?

C'mon Ta-kun. You're still just a kid."

"Where did you go? You left without saying anything!"

"You can't do that Ta-kun…only I can eat him!"

"I love you…"

"You want to come with me? …You know what? Never mind. After all, you're still just a kid."

He frowned, blue eyes sliding open slowly until there were two half moons peering out from beneath a mess of black hair.

"I'm…alive?"

He winced at how weak his voice was and how it had trembled, almost breaking from those two simple works. He tried to sit up, to look around and see where he was, but a white-hot pain seared through his arm. That, and there were a pair of arms draped over his chest that were effectively preventing him from moving. His gaze traveled from the arms to the face buried in them. But he didn't need to see their face to recognize those pink locks.

"Haruko…"

In response she merely twitched a bit and muttered something like,

"Naotomsk…"

He blinked and slowly squirmed out from beneath Haruko's arms and finally got a good look at his own arm. A large purple bruise covered his upper arm, at least three bandages covering it and even those weren't enough to completely hide it from view. He shuddered and began to worm his way out from beneath the four or five blankets that covered him.

"Ato! You're up!"

He flinched at how loudly the person had exclaimed, what felt like his brain throbbing against his skull at the noise. He glanced up at the owner or the voice, locking gazes with the same person who had ultimately released the scorpion thing.

"…What are YOU doing here Nina?"

In reality he was glad to see she was okay and had come to see him, yet he couldn't find it in his heart to forgive her just yet for the words she had, knowingly or unknowingly spoken to him. Nina looked away, a frown etched onto her normally blank features. Come to think of it…lately she had been pretty emotional. Annoyingly worried, hateful, deathly scared and…he had to do a double take to make sure; she was actually looking a mixture of relieved and nervous.

A silence washed over the room, broken only by Haruko's odd mutterings about broccoli taking over the world. Fed up with the silence, Ato slipped completely from the blankets and pushed himself carefully to the floor, almost crumpling like wet paper from his own weight.

"You shouldn't get up Ato. You were out cold for two days."

He ignored Nina's comment and let go of the bed, this time holding firm.

"It's none of your business Nina."

Okay…that wasn't completely ignoring the comment but still, he couldn't just totally ignore her. It was impossible. He began to walk towards the door, one bare foot placed carefully before the other as he kept his eyes glued firmly to the floor.

"Just go away Nina."

He knew he was being harsh but there was no reason for her to keep lingering there like a bad cold, especially not after what she'd said. He just wanted to hurt her at the moment, the same way she had hurt him.

"Why are you still here Nina!"

He turned fully to face her…and stopped dead in his tracks. Nina…was crying. Nina NEVER cried. Ever.

"I was worried about you, you jerk! Everyone thought you were going to die!"

She paused for a moment and her words turned softer, so that he had to strain to hear them.

"Your heart stopped Ato…you died for a moment on the way to the hospital. They got your heartbeat back but…after that no one expected you to live very long…"

A shudder rolled down his spine and he sat down heavily, trying to wrap his mind around the concept that he had DIED. Actually been ripped from this earth for a few moments. Sadly, Nina walked out the door, pausing before she disappeared down the stairs.

"Get well soon Ato…"

He stared at the spot where Nina had just been, few thoughts breaking through the fog that had wrapped around his brain. Finally, a deep sigh escaped his throat as he leaned back, blinking as his fingers brushed lightly against the strings of a guitar, an odd and somewhat familiar jolt of energy sparking through his entire body even as the notes flittered through the air.

Turning around he saw Haruko's bright red, double guitar, the sound hanging in the room and echoing through his skull even after they faded. Reaching out and, after a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure Haruko was still asleep, he lightly strummed the chords of the guitar, feeling that same jolt of energy that left his fingers tingling. Slowly, carefully, he picked up the guitar, faltering a bit at its weight, and settled it on his lap, plucking the strings softly as a half smile tugged at his lips. He felt…a connection with this guitar. Like it belonged with him…just like the blue guitar he used belonged in the corner of the room in that old abandoned house…

"Having fun Tao-kun?"

Ato literally jumped, one hand still wrapped loosely around the handle of Haruko's guitar, and spun around, coming face to face with the weirder of the two pink haired women he lived with. Well actually that could be debated…

"Haruko!"

He stared at her a moment in shock, then back at the guitar in his hands.

"Um…"

"You don't have to explain Tao-kun. It was, if you wanna be technical, Naota's guitar. After all, he was the one that pulled it out of Canti."

She sat down next to him, lifting the guitar with one hand, a feat that Ato couldn't accomplish even if he was at full health, and placed it on her own lap, stroking the chords lovingly. Ato paused, a question lingering on the tip of his tongue, something he'd been wanting to ask for a while now.

"…Haruko?"

She raised her head ever so slightly, her mop of neon pink hair hanging in her eyes.

"What is it Tao-kun?"

He stopped again and, taking a deep breath, asked the one question he knew would provide a lot of answers to the questions bouncing around in his head.

"Who…exactly…was Naota?"

Haruko's fingers froze halfway through strumming the chords of the guitar again, contemplating the question with a thoughtful look.

"Naota…was probably one of my best friends. He had the same head as you Tao-kun, but robots started popping out of HIS head when he was two or three years younger than you."

She paused for a moment, choosing her next words carefully, green eyes clouding over with memories of a time long, long ago.

"Mamimi was Ta-kun…no, Naota's girlfriend in a way. Just like I was his housekeeper in a way. It was all kinda confusing. After Naota freed…er…someone from this factory, I left. I'm not sure what happened to Naota after that."

She shrugged, turning away and plucking another string on her guitar. Ato was trying very hard not to freak out. Not just because of how serious Haruko was, but also because, according to her story and mom's…she was either WAY older than she looked or she was a housekeeper when she was like, two.

"Why…did Naota have robots coming out of his head too?"

Without waiting for an answer he frowned, the explanation coming to mind almost immediately in a creepy sort of way.

"You hit him with that guitar didn't you?"

He pointed accusingly at the guitar Haruko held in her lap, blinking amazedly when she shook her head firmly.

"Nope! Completely wrong! I hit Naota with THAT guitar!"

And only Haruko could say that in such a smug way, while grinning and jabbing her thumb at something over her shoulder. Ato leaned to the side and blinked at what she was pointing at.

"But that's MY guitar…"

Haruko positively beamed at him, exuding waves of happiness. It was…kinda freaky.

"Well it was mine before I gave it to Naota!"

He gaped at her, questions still flinging around in his brain…and they beginning to hurt his head.

"But then…how did I get it!"

And yet again, Haruko had the answer. Grinning, she closed her eyes and set her hands on her knees, making it look like she was meditating.

"Ommm…I see…that you…Tao-kun…received this guitar…as a present from Mamimi! She probably thought that since you're practically a clone of Naota you'd like it. Heh heh heh…"

She suddenly stopped her creepy laughter, thinking for a moment.

"Well not really a clone…more like…what was it Mamimi said? Recanation? Re-irknation? Reinstated Nation?"

Ato sighed, wondering briefly whether Haruko had ever set inside a school.

"Reincarnation?"

She snapped her fingers and stood, slamming all the chords of her guitar at the same time.

"Yeah! That's it Tao-kun! She said you're the reincarnate of Naota! You've gotta admit; it does explain a lot."

He twitched, staring at her dryly.

"Like why you hit me with that guitar and why you're staying at my house?"

She began coughing suddenly, holding her throat and gasping for air as she began staggering towards the door.

"I'm choooookiiiing… I need waaaaatteeeer…Bye!"

With that she dashed down the stairs faster than Ato could blink. Trying to make sense of what just happened he ran to the door, yelling down the stairs,

"I know you're faking it Haruko! How can you choke? You weren't eating anything! Get back here Haruko!"

Getting no reply he fell back onto his bed and buried himself beneath the covers, the sluggishness and pain he had felt when he first woke up completely forgotten by the boy.

"Stupid alien girl…"

"Welcome back Ato!"

"How are you?"

"Good to see you Ato!"

"How ya doin' Ato?"

"You did all your homework while you were sick, right?"

"Wow! You're alive?"

He blinked at those last two, turning to see Nina and a snotty looking boy he didn't really know.

"Of course I'm alive, do I look dead?"

He retorted, vaguely wondering if he would get into too much trouble if he whacked the kid with a guitar like Haruko did.

"Well actually…"

Nina elbowed the boy sharply in the gut, glaring at him and effectively cutting off anything else the boy was about to say. Turning back to Ato, he immediately recognized her 'lecturing' pose. It was hard not to when she used it almost every day.

One hand planted firmly on her hip, the other waving at him and emphasizing every other word she said.

"Remember Ato, the talent show is coming up and it's required for all students to not only participate in it, but also to lend a hand with the behind-the-scenes work for the production. You know, to make sure it runs smoothly! If you don't do the required time then everyone's going to know it! Everyone else is definitely participating and, come to think of it, you haven't promised yet that you were going to do ANYTHING for the show! At this rate you're going to get the worst jobs Ato! I mean really…"

He tuned her out after that. How the heck that girl kept talking this long without taking a breath, he would never know. Realizing she wasn't going to stop talking anytime soon, he began walking to the classroom, nodding every once in awhile and picking up a few random words, mainly.

"Don't you DARE keep us waiting Ato!"

He nodded quickly, gave her a fast smile, and ducked into the classroom, praying to any gods that would listen that there were no tests or quizzes on the homework he had been supposed to do…but didn't.

"And today class…we not only have a pop quiz!"

The entire class groaned at the same time, which went, amazingly, unnoticed by the teacher.

"But we also have a special speaker who's here to tell us about the dangers of dust and germs. Please say hello to miss Haruhara Haruko!"

She was standing there, dresses in one of those biohazard suits, grinning like this was the best moment of her entire life. Knowing for sure his life was now, officially over, he buried his face into his arms, clinging to the small, desperate hope that maybe they wouldn't find out Haruko was, in any way, connected to him at all.

"Hey…isn't that Ato's housekeeper?"

Yep. His life was definitely over.


	5. Rage

Welcome to the next chapter of Reoccurences! I am your author, Bluemistwolf! Thank you for showing up today to read this fanfiction, I am very grateful. Also, now I feel like a game show host or something… I also have a very special treat for those of you who're into that type of thing…So says the title of this chappie. Also, please note I know absolutely NOTHING about bands…Enjoy!

**VASHATSOCOM**: Firstly, thanks for the review! I always thought my action parts were really, really bad…You've got some really interesting theories there too! For most of your questions, you'll have to wait and see, but I will say that there is absolutely no relation between Naota and Atoan. Mainly because for the whole time range thing to work out for that, Naota would have been a father at sixteen or seventeen…I'm not that cruel to the kid.

**Gijinka** **Renamon**: I'm glad you think it's interesting! Thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own FLCL. Mainly because being responsible for Haruko would like signing your own death warrant…

**

* * *

**

**BANG! BANG! BANG! **

"Haruko!"

Ato banged on the door again, hearing a cracking sound come from the wood.

"Haruko! Let me in! It's my room you know!"

Still not getting an answer and knowing if he tried to force his way in Haruko would whack him with her guitar…again…he did the only thing he could think of.

"Hey Canti! Could come up here?"

With a wicked grin he heard muffled cursing from behind the door.

He heard the robot coming before he actually saw him, metallic feet clomping down on the old wooden stairs loudly.

"Canti! I have a request for you. Could you please go into my room and bring out Haruko for me?"

He tried to smile nicely, really he did, but it turned into more of an evil smirk that would send chills down a mass murderers spine…it didn't seem to affect Canti though. And he knew that Canti would obey any order he gave him but he decided to just ask rather that order him around. Rather safe than sorry right? Or something like that…

Besides, Mom pretty much worshipped the ground Canti walked on…and the air he flew on.

Either way, the robot merely nodded, pulled the door open effortlessly, stepped over the huge pile of junk piled in front to keep people out, and spotted Haruko trying to escape out the window.

Sensing Canti's robotic, television screen gaze, she turned around.

"…Damn."

Before she could scramble out of the rest of the window, Canti bounded over…well, more like took two long steps, picked her up by the back of her jacket and set her down gently in front of Ato.

Haruko crossed her arms irritably, cat green eyes catching onto a spot on the floor and sticking there.

"Well? What did you drag me out here for Tao-kun?"

He hesitated, his original reason being to yell at her for completely embarrassing him in front of his class, but now, all of a sudden, it seemed somewhat…useless. Plus seeing her get picked up by the scruff of her jacket and dropped in front of him by Canti, like a weird metal mother cat and her kitten had chased most of his anger away.

"I just wanted to say, I never really got to thank you for saving my life…so, uh…thanks Haruko!"

Okay. So it was a lousy excuse, but it was the only thing he could come up with! And, judging from the way Haruko was staring at him, she was expecting something different too.

"…You're weird Tao-kun."

He stared at her, pure disbelief written all over his face.

"I'm weird? You're the one that goes around hitting people with guitars!"

She merely shrugged and began picking lint off her shirt.

"Yeah, well…I don't send robots after people who obviously don't wanna be bothered"

He twitched, beginning to learn that arguing with Haruko was the same as arguing with a brick wall…except the wall was easier to convince. Fuming he walked back down the stairs, a mutter slipping from his lips that Haruko shouldn't have heard.

"You're so immature…why can't you just grow up? Stop being such a kid."

Too bad that she did hear them.

The words weren't exactly the same as the ones she had told Naota so long ago…but they were close enough. And as he disappeared around the corner she wondered…was it Naota that was more mature? Was she the one that whole time…that was really still just a kid?

"Naota…"

* * *

He was cursing mentally, repeatedly…in fact, he was running out of curse words. The reason why Ato Okurah was cursing? Not one soul in his entire school had a worthwhile talent for the school talent show, including him, unless you count robots coming out of his head a talent.

Sure, he could play guitar, but his recent 'luck' with those things left him feeling a bit sick at trying to play one. Stupid Haruko…

But back to the matter at hand…since no one had a worthwhile talent, Nina had come up with a spectacular idea! Sarcastic emphasis on 'spectacular'. Any actual talent she, or anyone else, could think of was dropped in a box after being written down on a piece of paper.

Then the entire school would take a vote on which talent a person should do for the talent show. Obviously this plan had major flaws in it. He had been chosen for, not guitar player, oh no, that would be too easy. Instead, he was picked to do the worst thing imaginable…

Sing.

Thanks to an anonymous person, those who had been picked for musical talents were thrown in a band for whatever reason.

It was official…pretty much every kid in his school was a total, complete moron.

Which was the reason he was walking, very slowly I might add, to the gym, where the 'band' would be rehearsing. There he would also meet his fellow band members, then they would choose all the stuff that bands did…or something like that.

When he had, off-handedly, mentioned the entire thing to Haruko, she had grinned and looked like she wouldn't miss it for the world…and would bring a tape recorder as well to blackmail as many kids in his school as possible.

She hadn't _said _any of this of course; he could just tell by that look in her eyes…it was seriously creepy.

And when he'd complained to Mom she'd just said, and I quote,

"Just don't go Tao-kun. I TOLD you to start ditching school and this'll be perfect practice!"

…Yeah…

He'd abandoned any thoughts of not showing up, though that hadn't stopped him from being as late as possible. Which…had turned out to be about five minute.

How he hated his conscience.

With a resigned sigh he pushed open the doors to the gym and was immediately met with an angry barrage from none other than Nina. Vaguely, he wondered why she was here while tuning out her rant about punctuality at the same time.

Suddenly, and quite unbidden, a thought popped into his mind and he froze.

No.

She couldn't be…

Could she…?

"As a fellow team member Ato, you've got to be on time!"

He cursed every god he knew of, including Cantide from Firestarter.

Why did it have to be Nina?

* * *

Shoveling noodles into her mouth at an alarming rate, Haruko paused and eyed Mamimi, who had been sighing repeatedly for the past ten minutes. Now, Haruko wasn't one to get into people's personal lives…okay, scratch that.

She wasn't one to go around asking 'Are you okay?' and be all sympathetic and stuff. But if Mamimi was going to keep this up she'd never be able to finish her noodles in peace!

Slamming the bowl down on the table with a bit more force than necessary, and watching at least half the contents spill out onto the table because of it, she glared at the decidedly crimson haired girl.

"All right. What is it?"

Chocolate brown eyes snapped towards Haruko, though the owner of those eyes didn't even twitch at the question. If Haruko had been paying more attention, she might've noticed the slightly annoyed, frosty tone in her voice when she answered.

"Whaddya mean?"

The cat eyed girl stared boredly back, not even bothering to repeat her question. With a swift glare Mamimi stood abruptly, glaring at the alien girl for all she was worth as words she had kept bottled up for awhile now came gushing forth.

"You're trying to make Ato into Naota aren't you!"

The alien girl in question blinked and, not knowing really what else to do, fell back onto old habits. She merely pointed at herself, smiling innocently, while trying to make a halo pop into existence over her head. Needless to say, it didn't work. Both the halo thing and the innocent act, on Mamimi.

If anything, it enraged her further.

"You stole Naota away from all of us, and when you left, you left him completely lost! He never showed it of course, but we all knew. I won't let you do the same thing to Ato! You keep away from my son!"

During Mamimi's rant Haruko's eyes had widened slightly; there was no doubt in her mind this woman would hunt her down and kill her if she hurt Ato in any way. She wasn't particularly scared by the unspoken threat as much as shocked.

This was not the Mamimi she had known…

Mamimi probably would have continued, actually putting into detail what she would do if Haruko harmed Ato, if not for a loud thud near the doorway. Both woman turned to stare at the topic of their discussion.

Ato himself was standing in the doorway, bad lying discarded on the floor. His blue eyes were wide in shock as they glanced between the two women, black hair an untidy mess with strands plastered to his face.

Wordlessly, he glanced between his mother and the woman from/of his dreams, and, hesitantly, he spoke.

"Uh…I'm home?"

* * *

I think Cantide is the full name of Canti from Firestarted…I'm not too sure though. Tell me if I'm wrong, kay? 


	6. Performance

Hiya! It has been... hmm...Eight months since I updated this. Lucky for you all, it's actually completed in real life. I'm just lazy. I'm going to assume/hope to god, that all the people that used to read this no longer come to FF. Or have forgotten about me. Otherwise, I'm going to get killed by the flaming reviews. So...HELLO NEW READERS! 

I am the authoress...person. Bluewolfgirl at your service. Man I wish I had a spiffier name. Ah well, at least there are no numbers or dashes. Oh, also, you may be wondering WHY I bothered to wait until chapter six to officially...welcome you. Or maybe I did welcome you back in Chapter 1.  
Only you would know, because I never reread my chapters after they're posted. Ever. And if I do, I certainly don't read the rambling above and below the ACTUAL story. There's never anything of interest except responds to reviews. Review and I will respond. No matter how dumb. So, if you never review. Ever. Then you shouldn't ever read the rambling before and after the story. Ever.  
Because I will make fun of you and you certainly don't wanna read that right?

**Disclaimer**: I'm just throwing this here so you don't have to continue reading the mindless rambling anymore.

* * *

He was pacing, a habit he thought he'd gotten rid of. Haruko was watching him, perched comfortably on the edge of the futon in Ato's room. It wasn't the top bunk but... hey, it worked. Ato halted in his pacing, turning to glare at Haruko.

"Why won't you come? You force your way into everything else in my life!"

The alien girl merely shrugged, focusing intently on the spot just left of Ato's head.

" Too many people. I'd get claustrophobic."

He continued glaring, obviously not satisfied with that particular excuse. She couldn't really blame him, it was pretty lame.

"And...?"

She sighed and gave in, making a mental note to get revenge later. Maybe fall asleep during his performance. Or insult it.

"And I don't like talent shows. They're boring and, despite the name, no one ever actually has any talent."

Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she glanced at Ato and immediately wished she hadn't. He was looking at her with those big blue eyes, pulling off the puppy dog look fairly well. Enough to make her feel somewhat guilty.

"But you only have to come for our perfomance. You don't have to sit through the rest of the stuff Haruko!"

Grumbling under her breath about persistant little brats she relented, wondering vaguely why he wanted **HER **to be there so badly.

"Fine. I'll go to the stupid show. But you guys better not suck."

He grinned triumphantly at her in a way that reminded her suspiciously of...herself! Since when did he manage to perfect her cheeky, 'I-Just-Ate-The-Canary' grin! His eyes sparkling with mischeif unbecoming of a fifteen year old boy, he ran out the door, waving over his shoulder. With yet another sigh, though this was more out of habit, she began plotting her revenge, making notes to pick up some worms and dirt for his lunch. She would never understand that kid. She didn't understand him when he was Naota, and she didn't understand him now.

_I should really start hating kids..._

* * *

She sat in one of those fold out chairs, her feet propped up on the back of the chair in front of her. The three seats to her left were occupied by her guitar, a bag filled with trash from what she'd raided of the vending machines, and Ato's school bag. The three seats on her right held Mamimi's purse, since the woman herself was taking a smoke, a bouquet of flowers that were **NOT **from her, and a pack of sour drinks.

Of course, she had the best seats in the house. Not from getting there early, but simply because anyone there before quickly found new seats. And anyone that made any move to sit down in one of the six seats she had stolen, or looked like they were about to ask, she glared at with such intensity that it sent five kids running, and made one full grown man start to cry.

What? She liked her space.

Plus she had already had to sit through an accordion player, a yodeler, and some kid who had tried to play the electric triangle. So she'd given Ato a good whack on the head, while saying something or other about good luck. Ah...sweet revenge.

Amazingly, he hadn't been knocked unconscious. Not that that was her intent but... a night at the hospital was better than this.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the disappearance of the only spotlight in the room, plunging everything into darkness. Only a moment later did the lights spring back to light, illuminating the stage with multiple different colors. A thick gray fog swept across the stage floor, and three shadowy figures appeared in the middle of the stage. As the fog settled, the figures became more visible.

Nina sat behind a set of red and white drums, her dark clothing and spiked purple hair standing out brilliantly against the pale colors.

The kid playing guitar was snotty looking, with ash blonde hair done up in a bad moehawk, which looked more ridiculous than cool. He struck a pose, obviously trying to show off the leather jacket, and diamond skull and bodes emblem emblazoned on his shirt.

Finally, Ato stood as leader of the group, shaggy black hair falling over his eyes, though the blue orbs stood out sharply against his face. A black collar was fastened around his throat, and he looked vaguely uncomfortable in the clingy shirt, and ripped/paint splattered loose jeans.

After a moment of dead silence the entire audience broke into a somewhat hesitant applause. They'd been listening to junk the entire night, how much better could these kids be?

With a deep breath Ato clutched the microphone with a death grip, eyes skittering nervously over the audience, and began singing.

( Since I don't wanna make this a songfic, and I can't write my own songs...I'm not writing down the lyrics. Which would probably be incorrect anyway. )

_A Couple Minutes Later_

The crowd was silent for a second after the song ended, then erupted into applause. Cheers, whistles, and hoots for more echoed through the auditorium. The band merely bowed and quietly left the stage, though Haruko thought she caught a glimpse of a grin on Ato's face as he walked off.

* * *

By the time the talent show was over and Haruko had managed to convince coughthreatencough a few people to help her carry the stuff she had used to save seats and made her way backstage, she found Ato surrounded by a group of people, murmurs of compliments traveling to where Haruko stood.  
Ato, catching sight of the pink hair through a brief gap in the people, pushed his way past the crowd and rushed over to her, blue eyes gleaming. He stared at her patiently, not even glancing at the people behind her holding the stuff. Realizing he was waiting for her opinion, she took a deep breath, laid a hand on his shoulder, and looked him straight in the eye.

"Ato...I'm going to tell you the complete and total truth..."

She paused for dramatic effect, mustered up a slight smile, and finally spoke.

"You guys sucked."

* * *

Anyway, if you want to know what song Ato was going to sing, it was Take Me Out, by Franz Ferdinand. Personally, I think it fits Naota to a T. 


	7. Clone

...Wow. It's been awhile since I updated. Years in fact. Ouch. The only reason I'm continuing is for the simple fact that some people seem to like this. Heaven knows why. Because, oh my god...it is painful. This thing might need some heavy revision...I can't believe I ever spelled things like that! Oh and, random point of view changes! Woo. It makes me weep, because I hate it so, so much.

I've already finished the story long ago, so I'm writing it directly from the finished version. My style has changed since I wrote it, of course, so don't think that this story reflects any of my current writing ability.

**Miyutoko**: Yup. Atoan. Naota. Ato for short. I've also realized it sounds like the beginning of Atomsk. Like I replied in an earlier review though, it would be really weird for Naota to be a dad. (rambles into her weird timeline thing) It's been twenty years since Haruko left. Ato is fifteen so fifteen of those years are spent for him to grow up. The remaining five would make Naota... seventeen at best. I am NOT making a seventeen year old (Or younger ) a dad.

**Zack Anderson**: 1. Okay. Instead of writing your name five times, I'll just make a REALLY long reply. No. I've exlplained this a lot. Look above for a detailed explanation (Sorta ), on a couple things.

2. And it IS Mabase which is, by Naota's words, is always the same. Nothing ever changes. Even for his reincarnation.

3. ...You weren't supposed to agree!! But you are the first person to actually say so. Nina's life is a bit of a secret. You'll find out more about her later. Promise. Back to my bad humour...how do I change it? The weirdness that goes on in FLCL is kinda hard to put into words... y'know? Oh... I guess I don't know enough about Japan... thanks for pointing it out though.

4 & 5. Well, people change. Mamimi's not seventeen anymore. She probably had to go through a lot when Tasuku left, and even more when Naota did. And having a kid that looks _exactly _like Naota... It's both a second chance, and a not so gentle reminder that she rejected Nao. ...I guess.

**Taimoshi Raesu**: Because. Then this would be like every other story where 'Haruko Returns'.

**Taimoshi Raesu**: Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: Most of the people, places, and various events are taken from FLCL. Or directly references FLCL. And I do not own FLCL.

* * *

After Haruko's comment about his performance, Ato had promptly kicked her out of his room, leaving her to sleep on the couch in the living room. This, in turn, led to her being awake at three in the morning on the lumpy furniture, her keen ears picking up the footsteps of someone trying very hard not to be heard.

They were far too quiet to be Canti, and she could hear Mamimi mumbling in her sleep from here. Which just left one person...

Just as the not so mysterious figure reached for the door leading outside she spoke, eyes glinting as they peered over the top of the couch.

"Where ya going Tao-kun?"

He froze for a moment...then promptly bolted out the door without a word, leaving a somewhat speechless Haruko gaping at the door.

* * *

It was nearly an hour later that she'd finally found him, and then only by accident. Ato was standing in th emiddle of a baseball field, the same baseball field she'd played on once. Except now it looked deserted, and hardly ever used.

Which made sense really. Only Naota's grandfather and that team...Martians was it? Only they had actually used it. Probably retired soon after she left. They had enough been that great with Canti helping them out.

What was weird though was that Ato was actually wearing an outfit that was purposefully dark, specifically colored for sneaking out at night. Long, loose black sleeve, black pants, and some type of hood. She suspected his mouth was probably covered up too. The only way she could tell it was him was from the blue guitar, carefully propped up, a couple feet away from her.

She crept closer to see what he had snuck out the house for, when she suddenly had to duck, a baseball shooting past the spot her head had just been. She glanced towards Ato to see if he had seen her but he was totally oblivious, reaching down to pluck a ball from a pile at his feet.

She shouldn't have been surprised really, Ato looked like Naota, acted like Naota...he even had robots sprouting from his head like Naota. Though, come to think of it, Naota had never actually hit any of the baseballs during practice.

With no little bit of pride, she wondered if any of the baseballs Ato hit broke the Earth's atmosphere and knocked down a satellite light years away.

...She doubted it.

Judging from the force he hit the baseballs with, Ato was a decent player, if the numerous holes through the rusty, chain link fence were any indication.

Keeping close to the ground so that she wouldn't be killed by the random flying projectiles, she crept closer until she was directly behind him.

"I didn't know you played baseball Tao-kun?"

He jumped, bright red bat clattering to the ground as he turned to stare at her.

"H-Haruko!?"

She grinned, waving at him happily.

"Heya Tao-kun!"

* * *

As the initial shock of seeing her just...standing there wore off, he felt rather annoyed. Glaring, he knelt to pick up the fallen bat.

"What're you doing here?"

She pouted unhappily, staring at him with those abnormal eyes.

"I asked you a question first Tao-kun."

His glare only intesified, and he hoped that Haruko was having second thoughts about following him.

"Why did you really come back here Haruko?"

She stared at him, confused. And he realized that he usually didn't act quite this...hostile. At her look he explained, struggling to put into words the half formed thoughts he'd been struggling with lately.

"Where's Atomsk? You left to find him. And now, all of a sudden, you're back, with no trace of him. It doesn't make sense!"

He wasn't supposed to know about that. Only three people knew about Atomsk. Naota was dead and, she kind of hoped that Amarou wasn't around either.

He turned his gaze away to stare at the bat in his hands, the words jumping from his mouth without his consent. Not that he really tried to stop them.

"Ever since the scorpion came, I've remembered bits and pieces. Of...Naota's life."

He watched her lean forwards, eyes gleaming excitedly.

"You know what happened to Naota then?"

He nodded slowly, reluctantly, and he almost wished she could just figure it out without making him say it.

"Well? What happened to him Ato?"

"He's dead, okay?"

She stared at him, and he wondered if she had even heard properly. She didn't look crushed beyond belief like he had imagined she would be. He tried again, slower, making absolutely sure she understood what he was trying to tell her.

"For three years he waited Haruko... and then he left to search for you. He wandered the galaxy until he died two years later. I...I think that was when Mom came back to Mabase and had me."

She flicked at the metal bracelet she wore, and he wondered when she had stopped standing.

"He wasn't supposed to follow me...it's dangerous out there. That's why I didn't take him in the first place. He was just a kid."

An awkward silence hung in the air between them, broken only by the soft chirping of birds. It was early...

"So...did you ever find him? Atomsk, I mean?"

He was just curious now, no longer making wild accusations.

"Yeah. But just before I could get him, he ran. Straight into Medical Mechanica's clutches too. I was close...one more second and..."

She trailed off, and he practically heard the unsaid words hanging in the air.

_I would have absorbed all of that power, taken every last drop for myself. Then, I wouldn't have had to come back here, to find out about Naota._

He turned to stare up at where the factory that housed Atomsk once stood, only blank space occupying the area now. No one had ever built over the rubble.

"So you need me to help you free Atomsk again...that's why you really came back. Naota, me, or anyone else...it didn't matter."

* * *

She searched for something to respond with, a plausible lie, but no words came. Then, saving whatever excuse she would come up with, the metal link on her bracelet began to tremble. She cast a glance at Ato, watching the white knuckled hand gripping the bat.

"Ato?"

He jerked away as she reached for him, the bat falling to the ground uselesly as his hands flew to his head. She frowned, retreating to a safe distance. A sharp whistle slipped from her lips out of habit, though it would take awhile for her Vespa to get there.

Ato was now doubled over, what looked like a hand reaching from his head. Oddly, it was a normal, human sized hand. Well, it wasn't forty feet high, so she counted her blessings.

The hand, beginning to take on a pale fleshy color, used Ato's head to pull itself out, a mop of white hair with pink at the edges appearing. Followed by a...womans body?

Finally a foot pressed against his head, dragging its other foot from the portal it crawled out of.

What now stood before her, next to Ato's twitching form, was an almost exact copy of herself. Her own clothing reappearing on the copy's body. For a moment, she stood speechless.

"Huh. Out of all the things that have come out of people's heads, that it definitely one of the weirdest."

Swiftly picking up Ato's disregarded bat, she held it like she would her guitar. Her actual guitar being strapped to her vespa.

"Bring it."

* * *

His head was throbbing painfully, dark spots scattering across his vision when he opened his eyes. Groggily, he lifted his and blinked to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. No, there were still two Haruko's standing there, both looking rather beaten.

"H-Haruko?"

Two heads turned to look at him, two voices echoing his name.

"Ato!"

They both began to glare at each other again, the Haruko with a nasty looking gash on her cheek practically hissing.

"How do YOU know Tao-kun's name?!"

The other Haruko, with a bruise beginning to show along her jaw, yelled right back.

"Because I'm his friend! How do YOU know his name!?"

One raised a red bat threateningly, pausing to wipe the blood from her cheek.

"Because I'm his housekeeper!"

He blinked and cleared his throat for attention, effectively interrupting their argument.

"Uh...Haruko?"

They both stared at him, slightly annoyed he'd broken up their fight.

"What?"

He opened his mouth to speak and was cut off by the rev of an engine as Haruko's vespa came flying through the field, coming to a screeching halt in front of the Haruko's. They glanced at one another then dived for the red guitar strapped to the Vespa. Each latched onto one end and began pulling, once more ignoring Ato.

Sighing, he scooped up his now forgotten bat and waved it in front of them, rather afraid to actually hit either of them with it. No matter how much he deserved the revenge.

"Listen up! One of you is not Haruko. And since neither of you are helping me at the moment, I'll decide which is real."

He trailed off, casting his gaze to the bat in his hands, while the Haruko's had identical looks of complete and total horror masking their features.

He ignored the looks.

Instead, he cleared his throat nervously, and began speaking again.

"Okay, I'll ask you each thre questions, whoever answers best is Haruko."

A quirk of an eyebrow and a muttered, "Well that's lame..." was his only response.

He glared at the two irritably, resisting the urge to just give up and go home already.

"It's that better than killing each other!"

Suddenly, they became distracted, focusing on something far above his head with a weird look in their eyes. He should've learned by now that anything that could capture Haruko's attention was probably very bad, and he should move out of that spot very quickly.

Instead, he looked up.


End file.
